RHP Scott Feldman, who hadn’t pitched in 14 days, gave the Rangers seven strong innings in a 9-1 win over Boston. Feldman rediscovered the cutter/sinker combo that has been absent since the end of the 2009 season and simply smothered Boston. It was Feldman’s third consecutive win as a starter and his fourth consecutive win overall.

“I think sometimes I’m guilty of thinking negative things,” Feldman said. “I just tried to stay positive and not think about anything other than making my pitch. I had confidence in whatever [catcher Mike Napoli] put down for signs and I just tried to keep the ball low.”

Over his last six innings of work, Feldman got 11 of 18 outs on ground balls or strikeouts. It was the longest outing for him since July 9, 2010, the same day on which he become obsolete as a member of the Rangers’ rotation. That was the day the Rangers acquired Cliff Lee.

Now, with Lewis out for the season and the Rangers unsure if they will be able to land a big-time, front-of-the-rotation starter before the July 31 trade deadline, Feldman could once again make himself vital to the Rangers’ playoff hopes.

“Feldman won 17 games for us before,” manager Ron Washington said. “He knows what it’s like to go out on that rubber and maintain and get things done. We’re very fortunate to have a veteran like him that when opportunity presents itself that he can go out there and keep us in a ballgame. Tonight he gave us seven innings with one run. That was huge, especially with the way we’re starting to lose pitching.”

And, added Washington: “We’re looking a lot of guys for that spot. What Feldman did tonight certainly gives him the opportunity to have the ball again. We’re not going to anoint anyone right now. We’re just going to keep playing ball and see what happens.”

Some other thoughts and notes:

• Feldman did not hit a batter or allow a walk. It was the 8th time this year a Rangers starter has gone at least seven innings without any kind of free pass.

• It was the 91st start of Feldman’s career and the 91st time he’s not gone nine innings. Feldman has the eighth most starts since 1921 without a career complete game. Detroit’s Rick Porcello is seventh with 108.

• 2B Ian Kinsler had three hits, walked once and scored twice. When Kinsler gets on base and scores multiple times, it makes the Rangers a pretty unbeatable offense. The team is 8-0 this year when he has at least three hits in a game. The Rangers are 16-1 when he scores more than one run.

• Still not sure what to make of RHP Tanner Scheppers, who pitched a scoreless ninth with an eight-run lead. He has pitched three times since the All-Star break and has not allowed a run, but he’s still allowing hitters a .354 average for the season.

• The Rangers have won all three meetings against Boston this season and have outscored the Rangers 33-7 in those games. Texas is 21-9 in its last 30 meetings against the Red Sox since June, 2009.

• DH Michael Young had an RBI single in the Rangers’ four-run third inning. Young is 6-for-13 (.462) with runners in scoring position since July 1. He has RBIs in four of the Rangers’ last five games.

• C Mike Napoli threw out Dustin Pedroia trying to steal to end the sixth inning. It was the first caught stealing for Napoli since June 16 and ended a streak of 18 consecutive successful steals against the Rangers.

• OF Josh Hamilton’s night can’t be overlooked. Though Hamilton struck out in his first at-bat, he had a pretty good approach. In the second at-bat, he did what he must do more often, reach out and line a ball to left field. It produced a run. And in the sixth, with a runner on third base and one out, he lifted a perfect sacrifice fly. Hamilton now has 80 RBIs for the season.